


Here is Where we Belong

by ukulele_jazz



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gentle Kissing, Nothing explicit, Other, a bit of angst, but I don’t remember the source, just a short fluffy story, kids share a moment, this is based off of an image I found online
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23557216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ukulele_jazz/pseuds/ukulele_jazz
Summary: Dib and Zim share a moment.
Relationships: Dib/Zim (Invader Zim)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 79





	Here is Where we Belong

**Author's Note:**

> This short story is based off of an image I found online. I don’t remember the source, but I think I saw it on reddit. Also, a non explicit story on my dash? It’s more likely than you think.

_It was a quiet evening. Dusk had just begun to settle. Crickets started to chirp. Everything was slow and serene. Dib and Zim laid on a grassy field in the center of the park, the only greenery in the whole city and place where, somehow, they both were able to get along.  
_

Dib picked up a stray leaf.

“What’s it like on Irk?” Dib asked. They never really had long talks or moments like these. But Zim had been on earth several years now. He still seemed to revere the Tallest and Irken Armada, but talked about it less and less until conversation between the two had dwindled to discussion of why earth was such a shithole planet and how bad the skool cafeteria was. And now here they were, alone in the park, no fighting or bickering, just genuine talking. Almost like they were friends. Friends who wanted to kill the other. But friends nonetheless. 

Zim seemed to consider Dib’s question.   
  


“Well,” he began, “its kind of...dark. The light there is dim, and it smells like...” Zim tried to find the right words to describe Irk’s atmosphere,” sulfur.”   
  


“Hmm,” Dib mumbled. “What else?”

”I guess it seems to be constantly moving,” Zim continued. “The building are tall and, um, angular. It’s vast and far superior to earth.”

Dib figured Zim was probably right, even though he had never been there the technological advancements he described were pretty incredible; earth’s “achievements” couldn’t even hold a candle.   
  


“The skies...well the skies are always overcast, and tinted magenta. Or at least it appears that way. Many have said it’s because of our seeing holes being pink.” 

Dib snickered. He liked the translations of Irk jargon to English. 

“Yah,” he said. “It sounds pretty neat. Sometimes I wish I could go out there, ya know? Into the stars, just exploring, maybe proving that aliens actually exist. Getting people to listen to me.” 

Zim rolled onto his side. 

“Well, it’s a noble idea but not possible!” Zim exclaimed. 

“Oh, come on,” Dib complained. “Now you’re starting to sound like my dad.”   
  


“No I’m not!” Zim said defiantly. “This is what your patriarchal guardian sounds like: New invention blah blah science blah blah work blah blah NOT SCIENTIFICALLY POSSIBLE!”   
  


Dib laughed. 

”Okay, ya got me there,” he conceded. “I still think the accent’s a bit off, though.”

”Nonsense, Zim’s impressions are perfect.”

”Whatever you say, space boy.”

A moment of silent passed between the two. Dib shifted a bit before folding his arms over his chest and looking up to the star spangled sky. 

“Do you-do you ever feel like you just don’t belong?” Dib asked.   
  


Zim paused for a moment.   
  


“No,” he responded. “Irkens belong anywhere. We are superior to every other race.”

”No, I mean,” Dib turned over to face Zim,” like do you ever feel like there’s no place for you, as an individual. That no matter where you go, you’ll always be an outsider. Someone that no one actually cares about. Just another passerby. A loner. A loser. A nobody.” 

“I don’t- I don’t know.” Zim seemed unsure of how to respond. Maybe that wasn’t something he had ever contemplated before. Maybe it was something he didn’t want to.   
  


“Irkens have always had to belong. Zim has tried to...belong.” His tone seemed to shift the more he thought. “But there was no place to belong. Zim stands out as one of the smallest invaders. Even the pathetic human riddled earth does not seem to want Zim.”   
  


Dib was surprised by the honest vulnerability in Zim’s voice, in his strange confession. It was a side of his enemy he had never seen before, even when they weren’t fighting.   
  


“I get what you mean,” Dib concurred. “Everyone thinks I’m crazy. They don’t want to hang around the sci-fi nut in a trench coat. Even my own sister hates my guts. And my dad...”

Zim understood Dib’s unhealthy family dynamic. They never even had to talk about it. He just knew. Maybe everyone did, and that certainly didn’t help things. 

“Hmm, yes, perhaps the almighty Zim is better company for the Dib-thing.”

Dib almost laughed until he realized that Zim was serious. And he was shocked to find that he agreed. 

“Well, hey,” Dib said, sitting up a bit,” misery loves company!”

”Ha, well who could not love Zim!” Zim announced. He had subconsciously moved closer to Dib, having also sat up on his palms. 

Dib was suddenly aware of their close proximity, and even though they had been this close before during fights and heated arguments, this time felt...different. He could feel his stomach doing small flips, red roses beginning to bloom on his cheeks. 

”The Dib seems to be overheating,” Zim observed, going to place a hand, or claw?, on Dib’s forehead. 

Dib’s mouth went dry, the space between them closing significantly. 

“Perhaps the Dib should return home,” Zim stated, but continued to move in further, his voice surprisingly soft.   
  


“Yeah, maybe.” Dib’s voice broke on the “maybe” as he leaned in to close the gap. ‘Guess this is going to happen,’ he conceded. ‘Might as well go for it.’

Dib quickly mashed their faces together with urgency and little grace. Zim’s eyes shot wide open but he didn’t try to back away. After a few seconds Dib pulled back. He tried to read Zim’s expression, but it was like trying to decode a Voynich Manuscript. 

And suddenly Zim kissed him back, but with much less ferocity. Dib closed his eyes and sighed into the kiss, not thinking, just moving and savoring the strange, bizarre, fantastic moment.   
  


They stayed like that for a while; the kiss was soft, passionate, and just as peaceful as the air around them. Nothing else seemed to matter but that moment. Once they parted, Zim stood up.   
  


“Zim should be heading home. GIR will be upset if he stays out any longer.” 

”Uh, yah, I should probably get back to, I, uh, owe Gaz a soda.”   
  


Before Dib could pull himself up Zim offered a hand which he gladly expected. He brushed himself off, taking note that Zim was straightening out his antennae.   
  


They began to walk out of the park as if nothing had happened. It was as if time had stopped for a moment and none of that had been real, like a dream or simulation, and when it started back up again there were no consequences to that hallucination. Dib was ready to try and forget the whole thing until Zim broke the silence.   
  


“Dib-stink, you are never to speak of what happened tonight to any earthling or Zim will tear out your organs and replace them with GIR’s tacos. I swear it on my squeedlyspooch,” Zim threatened, pointing a menacing green claw at Dib.   
  


“Okay, but you better not tell anyone either.” Dib agreed that no one needed to hear about his making out with an alien. Not that anyone would believe him, anyway. 

”Done. And remember, Zim never breaks his word!”

Dib nodded as they approached Zim’s lawn. Once he had reached the door, Zim called back. “Remember to watch your back tomorrow at skool, stink brain! Zim will be there early!” Zim slammed the door shut and Dib only laughed to himself. 

He knew that tomorrow they would throw hands and probably get suspended, but instead of just hate there in those fights, something else may have begun to take its place. 


End file.
